Hogwarts Tales: The Great Prophecy
by IronManRidingaNimbus
Summary: Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts to finish his final year, but in amongst all of the lessons, and Quidditch Matches, a great darkness looms. Professor Trewlaney makes another prophecy, and a shady organisation makes attacks on members of the wizarding community. But a tournament against Beauxbatons and Durmstrang could leave Harry distracted from his greatest threat... HP/GW RW/HG
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Harry Potter stood several feet back from the Weasley family, Hermione Granger stood by his side, wiping away her tears with a cotton handkerchief. Harry's eyes were dry, but there was a lump in his throat the size of a golf ball, and he felt as though he had been punched several times in the stomach. Mrs Weasley's sobs cut through the air like a knife through butter. The rest of the wizard world, it seemed, were having parties and celebrating the downfall of Lord Voldemort. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the one who had defeated Voldemort in the final duel in the Great Hall, was not celebrating. He was watching his friends coffin being lowered into the ground. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry could hear the reverend talking, but his voice seemed very far away.

'We ask that the Lord take care of Fred, and welcome him into his garden with open arms. Whilst we mourn his passing today, tomorrow he will be remembered as a brave and courageous man who greeted every day with a smile and a laugh.' Harry stood in solemn silence as Fred Weasley's coffin was lowered into the ground. It was a bright purple and orange casket, with carvings of fireworks, and Fanged Frisbees that popped, and chased each other around the surface of the wood. Harry supposed it reflected the playful personality of the man who lay inside it, but that was the thing, Fred was too young to be dead, to have been ripped from the world so callously. Despite what everyone kept telling him, Harry felt like Fred was in a box because of him.

It was self-centred and wrong, Harry knew that. The war against Voldemort had been much bigger than him; Fred, Remus, Tonks, Sirius, and so many others, had died for something much bigger than Harry, but still, Harry would give anything to trade places with any of them. Fred's was the latest in a long line of funerals that Harry had attended in the weeks following the Battle of Hogwarts. Thankfully, the _Daily Prophet_ had finally learned to keep away from him. Following the battle, people couldn't wait to hear his side of the story; everyone wanted to hear how the _Chosen One_ had brought an end to _You-Know-Who,_ every reporter wanted an exclusive, every photographer wanted a photo. For weeks Harry had been followed, until finally, when he was leaving Remus's funeral a photographer snapped a picture of him, and Harry lost his temper. He hit the camera with a blasting curse that shattered it into a thousand pieces. He was very lucky not to have hurt the man behind the lens, but in that moment Harry didn't care. From that point onwards, he wasn't followed by cameras every single day, but Harry still heard the occasional click of a shutter, or saw someone sitting in the back row at church with a Quick Quotes Quill. Recent headlines included _Why Won't Harry Potter Talk to the Wizarding World? What Are Potter's Future Plans?_ and _The Chosen One Driven Mad by Grief?_

Even now, Harry knew that four rows back from himself, there was a man in a set of black dress-robes who, whilst pretending to mourn, was trying to slyly take notes underneath his cloak. But this time he would not make a scene; even if Fred would have thought it entertaining, Mrs. Weasley would not. Today was their day to grieve. As the funeral ended, Hermione and Harry made their way to the front of the crowd and returned to the Weasley's who were giving thanks to everyone who had attended. Harry gave Mrs. Weasley a tight hug, and shook Mr. Weasley's hand. Ron had been crying, but now that Harry and Hermione were here he was trying to hide his emotions away. Ginny's eyes were still wet. Harry wanted to go over to her, to hold her, to make her feel better, but now wasn't the time. George, who had lost the other half of himself was completely out of it. Harry wasn't sure he had even heard the service, or whether or not he knew what was even happening around him. When everyone apparated to the Burrow, George had simply held on to Charlie's arm and allowed himself to be taken away, and when they arrived, he ignored the large tent full of people who showed up to celebrate Fred's life, and shut himself in his room, muttering absently that he wanted to be alone.

Harry too, wanted to be alone. The moment he stepped inside the tent he could feel that all eyes were on him. Out of respect for the occasion, nobody leapt forward to talk to him, but he knew that people had a hundred questions that they wanted answered. Harry poured himself a Firewhiskey, and then found a quiet corner to drink alone. Occasionally someone would walk over towards him, but he would simply give them a look that conveyed his desire to not be bothered. But, there was one person who wouldn't care for his stern looks, or grim demeanour. He was filled with a sort of sadness when she took a seat next to him. She looked so beautiful, even though she was frail and skinny, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and it looked as though a stiff breeze might knock her over. "You're avoiding me," Ginny said as she sat opposite him.

"I'm not-" Harry began to protest, but he knew that he wasn't being entirely truthful to her. He _had_ been avoiding her, not because he didn't want to see her, but because he didn't know what to say to her whenever he did.

"Walk with me." Ginny said, leaving her seat and leading him outside. They walked in silence for a long time, past the burrow, out of the garden, and way out into the cornfields, until finally, they came to the edge of a large pond. "We used to swim here in the summers," Ginny said absentmindedly.

"It's beautiful"

"What are you doing Harry?" Ginny asked him with a large sigh. She had taken both of his hands, and was staring at him determinedly, waiting for an answer. Harry tried to look anywhere else, the fields, the trees, the pond, but finally he relented.

"I don't know."

"You know, you're really predictable." Ginny said with a hint of venom. Harry took the sting, but listened to what she had to say. "I told Hermione you would spend a lot of time moping around, not looking ahead, not able to see past all of the funerals. I was right, wasn't I?" Harry nodded his agreement reluctantly. "Dad is heading back to work in two weeks, Charlie is heading back out to Romania, and Ron and Hermione are off to Australia to find her parents. You are the only one without some idea of your next move."

"I offered to help!" Harry cut in, but Ginny's face immediately told him that he had made the wrong choice.

"Yes, I know you did, but I think that's your problem. You're constantly trying to think of ways to _help._ " Ginny grasped him more firmly, "You know fine well that Hermione will be able to fix her parents memory in a matter of hours, even if she keeps saying otherwise. This is a trip for her and Ron. They _both_ need some time away from everything, and so do you. V-V-Voldemort is gone; your part is done Harry. It's time for you to take a break." Harry was taken aback by the fact that Ginny had said Voldemort's name. Even though he was dead, the fear of his name seemed to have increased further, as though saying too many times would bring him back.

"So, I'm supposed to just sit, and watch the world rebuild itself?" Harry felt his temper rising as he said the words, but they seemed to come tumbling out. "No-one seems to want me around. Hermione won't take me to Australia, Kingsley thinks I'm not ready to join the Auror's, where do I go?"

" _I want you around,"_ Ginny said through gritted teeth, "but guess who you're ignoring? You keep blaming yourself for everything without looking at what you've actually accomplished, and can you really think of _nowhere_ that you can return to?"

"I can't go back there, I can't. It would be too painful. Besides, I'm too old, I won't be allowed to go back." Ginny sighed deeply, and pulled him into a hug. He could feel her rummaging around in her bag for something, and pulled back just as he got it free.

"I've had this for a few days," she said thrusting a letter into his hands, "it's the only place you've ever called home, and I want you to come back with me." Harry opened the letter and read.

 ** _Dear Mr Potter,_**

 ** _Thank you for your letter. It is encouraging to see you putting your education first, and Hogwarts will be happy to have you return to complete your final year. Please see enclosed your list of required books and materials. I look forward to seeing you on September 1_** ** _st_** ** _._**

 ** _Kind Regards,_**

 ** _Professor M. McGonagall._**

 ** _Headmistress._**

"I wrote the letter, and sent it with Pigwidgeon. I wasn't sure that you would do it before term starts. I guess you can still withdraw, but I want you there. I need you to come with me, and I think you need it too."

"Hogwarts." Harry said staring at the letter, reading it several times over.

"Hogwarts." Ginny replied, and for the first time since the final battle, Harry felt as though things were looking up.

* * *

 **Authors Notes**

 **Hello Everyone,**

 **Thank you for reading the Prologue for Hogwarts Tales: The Great Prophecy! I do hope you've enjoyed it. Originally, this story was called After the Battle of Hogwarts, and is still available in its original form on fanfiction, and can be found on my profile. I really enjoyed writing it, and it was a fairly good success for me as a writer. However, I was a lot younger when I first started writing After the Battle of Hogwarts, and inevitably I made many mistakes, produced some very poor chapters, and wasn't very consistent with my plot. With my sequel story, The Tournament of Champions, being much more structured, and of a much higher quality, I decided it was high time to for the original to be brought up to the same standard. Rather than simply replacing the chapters, I decided to create a new story to take its place, so that fans of the original could see the differences, and new readers could have a much more enjoyable prequel to the Tournament of Champions.**

 **Thanks for reading, let me know what you think,**

 **IronManRidingaNimbus.**


	2. Chapter 1 Attack on the Hogwarts Express

**The Attack on the Hogwarts Express**

* * *

It seemed like it was only a matter of minutes since Harry had made the decision to return to Hogwarts, and now he was standing on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters gazing up at the gleaming scarlet engine that pulled the Hogwarts Express. Steam billowed from the engine, and the paintwork seemed to bathe the entire platform in a reddish glow. Despite the people staring at him, the occasional flash of a camera, and the low whispers as he walked by, Harry was glad that Ginny had sent the letter to Professor McGonagall. Despite the pain of seeing where so many of his friends had died, Harry was excited for his final year at Hogwarts. When Kingsley had become Minister for Magic, Harry had asked almost right away to join the Auror Department, but after some time deciding, Kingsley had told Harry to go out and enjoy life a little before he returned to fighting Dark Wizards. Harry, of course, had been furious. But now he felt motivated; if Kingsley wouldn't let him join this year, then by next year, Harry decided he would be Hogwarts' top student.

Unlike his previous years, Harry had begun studying early, practicing spells around the Burrow whenever he could. He'd gone to Diagon Alley and bought himself a new cauldron and scales, and a proper telescope. Many of the shopkeepers had tried to give him freebies, but Harry avoided taking as many as he could. He did however, accept a nice discount on a new Firebolt from Quality Quidditch Supplies. Not content with making himself a better wizard, Harry wanted to become a better flier too. If he was to take a year to focus on himself, then Harry was going to mould his body and mind into the best version of himself. Aside from all of the required textbooks for school, Harry spent a long time in Flourish and Blotts, and came out carrying an armful of books so big that Hermione would've beamed with pride. His purchases included; The Advanced Book of Spells Grade 1, Potion Making for the Practical Witch or Wizard, and Broomstick Warriors: A Complete Guide from the Masters of In-Flight Duelling. Once Ginny had given him the initial push, Harry had transformed from a mopey teenager with no direction, into a man on a mission.

Now, stood on the platform, ready for the journey to Hogwarts, Harry couldn't wait to get started. The guard blew his whistle to tell everyone to board their carriages, and after Mrs. Weasley had finished fussing over the pair of them, Harry and Ginny boarded the Hogwarts Express and settled into a compartment for the long journey ahead. "Excited?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded, although he wasn't too sure if he was telling the truth. Heading back to Hogwarts was going to be tough. A lot of the journey was spent giving awkward small talk. Despite everything that had transpired in the past few months, Harry and Ginny were still somewhat at an awkward phase with each other. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he and Ginny should be just like any other couple, happy to be alive, happy to be together, and out enjoying life. But something was holding them back. Harry was sure he was to blame; he spent a great many days simply wrapped up in his own thoughts, so much so that he would rarely speak at all. He knew Ginny wanted answers, she probably had a thousand questions, but she was holding back until he was ready to give them to her. For now, they hung in the air like a black cloud, swelling with rainwater until it would inevitably burst. But for the moment, at least, they were content to be together, and moving forward.

The hours on the train whittled away, and soon the sun was beginning to set as the train thundered through Scotland, bringing them ever closer to Hogwarts. The train was very quiet compared to what Harry was used to. He expected attendance to be down, but actually seeing it happen in front of him was like a dull blow. Some, had chosen not to return, and plenty of parents had elected to keep their children out of school, but Harry wasn't thinking about those children. He was thinking about the ones who were dead. How many other parents had stood beside their child's coffins and wailed helplessly as Mrs Weasley had? How many more would grow up like little Teddy Lupin, having never known their parents? Harry thought for a long moment about Teddy, how his start in life so cruelly mirrored his own, his parents callously ripped away from him by Voldemort and his followers. The similarities, Harry hoped, would end there. Teddy would grow up in a loving household, and once he was done with Hogwarts, Harry made a promise to Tonks's mother that he would be the best Godfather any child could hope for.

Harry was snapped from his train of thought abruptly, as a scream tore through the carriage, followed by another, and then the sounds of shattering glass. His wand was in his hand before he even had time to think about it, and he charged into the corridor, closely followed by Ginny. Something flashed past the window at great speed, and a crackle of blue lightning hit the side of the carriage, rocking it perilously on the rails. Neville Longbottom was at the end off the corridor, ushering a trio of First-years out of their compartment. "Neville!" Harry shouted, "What's going on?"

"Wannabe Death Eaters!" Neville called back furiously, "Let's teach them a lesson they won't forget!" Harry rushed forward into the compartment with Neville, who was firing spells left and right at a figure in a black cloak. Harry chimed in with a few curses of his own, and the figure was forced to retreat. Further up the train, the engine's whistle was blowing frantically.

"They're attacking the driver!" Harry shouted. Suddenly, a window on the other side of the carriage was blasted into a thousand pieces, forcing the students to scramble for cover. The hooded figure slunk back on his broomstick to the Ravenclaw carriage, and another forceful spell shook the train violently.

"I'll look after the driver!" Ginny shouted, already backing up the corridor, "you protect the rest of the students!" Harry nodded, but sent Neville after her, just in case. He pushed into the Ravenclaw coach, which was in utter chaos. They seemed to have taken a worse beating than the Gryffindors, and the compartments were choked up with grey smoke, which hung around in the air, making it difficult to see.

"Harry!" A voice shouted through smoke. It was Luna Lovegood. "They're on the left hand side! We've been putting up a fight, but it's not easy." Harry put a hand on his friends shoulder as she staggered towards him. She had a small cut on her cheek, but otherwise seemed fine. Clearly, Luna had lead the counter attack, as the Ravenclaws, despite the state of their carriage, were arranged in two neat rows, defending either side of the carriage. Harry pressed one, firing curses through every window he could, forcing the attackers towards the back of the train. He was passing through the Hufflepuff's now, they weren't as organised as the Ravenclaw carriage, but they were making up for it with enthusiasm, erupting into cheers when Harry stumbled into their corridor. 'He's here!' They shouted, 'Come on Harry! Let's get them!' Harry echoed their determination with a superb stunning spell that knocked one of the attackers clean off his broom and into the bushes.

The next carriage was the Slytherins, the end of the train. Harry felt nervous. Would they let him walk through? Would they try and help? Or would the Slytherin's try and stop him? As he opened the door, he could tell that something was wrong. The other coaches had been furiously noisy, and people had packed the corridors, but the Slytherin coach was deathly quiet, and icy cold. Harry walked through the corridor, passing several empty compartments. Then he heard it, a quivering voice at the end of the corridor. "No, no, stay away! I-I wont let you hurt them!" Harry sprinted to the last few compartments, his wand raised. He knew now why the coach was so silent, why the air seemed to have turned to ice.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry bellowed, and the silver stag burst from his wand, charging down the Dementor. The stag's antlers hit the foul creature square in the chest, and charged it down until it had completely fled the train. What was left of Slytherin house huddled fearfully in the last four compartments of the train. A tall girl with jet black hair still had her wand raised shakily at the place where the dementor had just been. "It's alright," he told the Slytherins, "it's gone." The girl lowered her wand, and seemed unable to speak for a moment. "We all need to look out for each other," Harry said, "I know you're scared, I am too, but we have to protect the train!" A few of the Slytherins nodded, and some began to move out of their huddles and raised their wands to the windows.

"Thanks," the dark haired girl said, regaining her voice at last.

"Any time," Harry replied. He stalked his way to the back of the train, and flung the door open. Now their was nothing but open space. Harry swung out onto a small platform on the outside of the train, gripping a handle on the door frame for dear life. There was one cloaked figure firing spells at the Slytherin carriage a few feet ahead of him. Harry pulled his broom clear using a lanyard charm, and it was all the masked man could do to hold on to his rogue broom. Harry cast incarcerous, and the man on the broom dropped painfully onto the tracks behind, bound tightly in thick chains.

"Are you mad? You're out here alone!" It was the dark haired girl who had tried to fight off the dementor. She was making her way out onto the opposite side of the small platform and pointed her wand up the other side of the train.

"I'm trying to draw them to the back so I can get a clear shot!"

"They hit us first!" She shouted over the roar of the wind, the driver had put his foot down, and the train was thundering along violently, but it was still not capable of outrunning the brooms. "We tried to protect the first years, and then they sent the Dementor in! We need to get forward!"

"No!" Harry shouted back, an idea forming in his head, "You get back in and rally the rest of Slytherins, I'm going to catch them off guard!"

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Accio Firebolt!"

* * *

Harry rocketed his broom over the tops of the carriages, catching three of the hoods entirely by surprise and knocking them into the undergrowth. The remaining three attackers weren't so oblivious, and were coming at Harry in an arrow formation. He shot off a volley of spells to try and scatter them, but their leader remained fearless and charged headlong into the fire. Only Harry's exceptional flying allowed him to dodge at the last minute as the first figure nearly took off his head. He managed a weak hit on another flier that sent them spiralling out control, but didn't unseat him. The situation was becoming dire, and Harry decided the best he could do now was to get them all clear of the train, and so he fired off, up into the hills, leading the trio behind him. He heard a cry of pain behind him, and turned to see one of the hoods sent flying into the dirt, while the other two spun round in confusion.

The girl from the train was back again, riding a sleek, grey broomstick. She had hit the man square in the back with a stunning spell, and in doing so, had caught the other two off guard. Harry polished off one of the two with a full body bind, sending him crashing through the trees, unable to move. The remaining attacker was putting up a much beefier resistance, but he could see the writing on the wall as the two students round on him, and with a loud crack, he disappeared, leaving his fellow attackers stranded. "We need to get to the driver!"

Harry shot to the front of the train. The engine looked in bad shape, but it was still faithfully chugging along. Harry landed on the footplate and was immediately crushed by a hug from Ginny. "I was so worried! I saw you go up into the hills, and then we couldn't see anything! I thought they'd gotten you!"

"It takes a little more effort than that to bring me down," Harry joked wryly, "besides, I had a lot of help. Is everyone ok?" The driver had a large cut across his face, but assured Harry it was nothing he couldn't deal with. Ginny and Neville were covered in coal dust, but otherwise they were fine, and by the sounds of it, had put up a stellar fight. Harry asked the trolley lady to distribute some chocolate to the Slytherins, and was in the middle of explaining the Dementor attack when the girl with the dark hair landed behind him.

"You should see this." She said.

"Ah, I didn't thank you!" Harry said, turning to offer his hand to the girl. "What is your name?"

"Regina Corsica," She shook his hand briefly, before hovering on her broom and repeating herself, "you should see this."

Harry kicked off from the footplate and flew to where Regina was waiting for him. She pointed back towards the train. Harry followed her finger along the length of the carriages. There were giant letters burned into the side of each carriage, a dark and smoky message scrawled along the entirety of the train.

HARRY POTTER! GO HOME!

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Hi Everyone,**

 **I'm sorry you've had to wait so long for this chapter. I explained in my update of the Tournament of Champions; my MacBook died, and took most of my work with it, so I've had to spend a lot of time rebuilding my stories from cloud saves and doc boxes on FF. It has been difficult, but I'm finally up to speed again. I should be updating the Tournament of Champions sometime next week, and I will try and get another chapter of the Great Prophecy up by the end of the month.**

 **I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, and if you were a fan of After the Battle of Hogwarts, you'll notice I've decided to introduce one of the stories key characters very early on, rather than in the final third of the book. I think After the Battle allowed me to try my hand at writing, and make mistakes, and I hope that now I'm able to re-tell it in a more professional, and more entertaining manner.**

 **I feel as though I've gotten Harry's character a little more correct this time, and I'm trying to give this story a much darker feel than it had before. After the Battle of Hogwarts was a little too happy, everything was a little too hunky-** **dory after a major war. I don't want to make it completely dark, but we've now learned fairly quickly that everything isn't perfect in Harry's world.**

 **Let me know if you enjoyed it, or even if you didn't. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.**

 **Thanks,**

 **IronManRidingaNimbus.**


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